‘Religious Institutions Have Been A Problem’: Andrew Cuomo Threatens To Shut Down Churches, Synagogues

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened Monday to close down religious institutions, specifically Jewish synagogues, if they do not follow his coronavirus restrictions.

“We know religious institutions have been a problem,” Cuomo said at a Monday press conference. “We know mass gatherings are the super spreader events. We know there have been mass gatherings going on in concert with religious institutions in these communities for weeks. For weeks.”

“I don’t mean little violations,” he continued. “I’m talking about, you’re only supposed to have 50 outdoors, they had 1,000.”

The governor referred to pictures from “the past couple of weeks,” calling the pictures “emblematic” of the mass religious gatherings occurring during the pandemic.

It appears that the photos that Cuomo referred to are from 2006 and show the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, according to Jewish Insider’s Jacob Kornbluh. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a press inquiry regarding the photos. … MORE